Dory's Present Days
by DisneyFan2002
Summary: A series of one-shots about what Dory does now after finding her parents and helping her friends escape. Please no mean or rude reviews.
1. New Residents

Chapter 1: New Residents

 **Happy New Year everyone! I can tell 2017 is going to be an amazing year. This is my New Year's gift to you. :)**

Dory, her parents, and her friends were swimming to Australia. The forgetful fish was so happy that she had found her parents. She felt accomplished.

Jenny looked at her daughter and held her fin, smiling at her.

Dory smiled back. She was very grateful to have parents with her. It made her feel good inside. She saw her father smiling at her. She smiled back.

Later, they made it to the reef. Destiny, Hank, Bailey, Jenny, and Charlie was all staring at it in awe.

"Wow…" Destiny said.

Marlin giggled. "I know. Beautiful isn't it?"

"It's amazing," Jenny stated.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "It looks like a fantastic place to live in."

Marlin smiled. "It is. Now we'll be showing you where you guys will be staying."

"Okay, great," Bailey said.

"Dory, you show your parents where they'll be staying at. Nemo, you show Destiny and Bailey their places."

"Okay. Come on, Mom and Dad!" Dory swam towards the place.

Charlie chuckled. "We're coming, Kelpcake!"

The couple followed their daughter.

Nemo swam to the place. Destiny and Bailey followed him.

Marlin turned to Hank. "I guess I'll be showing you where your new place is."

Hank chuckled. "Yeah. Let's go."

They swam off.

Dory led her parents to their new home. "This is your new home!"

Her parents smiled, seeing the place. Their home consisted of a coral cave that they can sleep in, coral, kelp, seaweed, and shells.

"This place is wonderful, honey," Jenny said.

"I agree. It reminds me of our old home at the MLI," Charlie stated.

"I'm glad you like it. Make yourselves comfortable." Dory smiled before swimming away.

Nemo introduced Destiny first to her place. "Destiny, you'll be staying in this cavern."

"Woah, it's huge!" Destiny exclaimed.

Nemo giggled. "I know. This cavern was made for you."

Destiny went inside the cavern. "It's perfect."

"Where will I be staying at?" Bailey asked.

"Bailey, you'll have to stay near the surface since you're a mammal. I learned about mammals in school. And mammals breathe air," Nemo explained.

"Okay, Nemo." Bailey went up near the surface. "Oh, this place is great."

Marlin and Hank swam over to a little cavern.

"Ooh, this place looks nice." Hank went in the cavern. "It's just my size."

"I'm happy that you like it." Marlin grinned.

Later, they all had a big dinner to celebrate the new residents in the reef.

Dory coughed loud to get everyone's attention.

They all turned to Dory, listening to what she had to say.

"I just wanted to say that I'm very happy that my friends and my parents came to live in the reef with me, Marlin, and Nemo. You guys are awesome, and you make me very happy. All of you guys are my family, and I love you all."

Hank began to cry happy tears. "That was so beautiful!"

Her parents hugged her.

"We love you so much, sweetheart," Jenny said.

"Aww! I love you too!"

"Three cheers for Dory!" Destiny exclaimed.

"Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray!" everyone cheered.

Dory blushed. "Aww, shucks. You guys are truly the best."

Nemo smiled and cuddled Dory.

Dory hugged him and nuzzled him.

"Alright, guys, let's finish this food!" Bailey said.

Everyone finished their special dinner. Dory's new friends and parents enjoyed the reef so far. They hoped to live a happy life there for many years possible.


	2. Substitute Teacher

Chapter 2: Substitute Teacher

 **A/N: Thank you for the nice reviews, guys! I appreciate it! It really helps keep me get this story going. :)**

Nemo was in school. He was listening to Mr. Ray's lesson about crabs.

"So, therefore, crabs can change out their old shells to fit into new ones," Mr. Ray finished.

"That was a great lesson, Mr. Ray," Pearl commented.

"Thank you, Pearl," he replied.

"Can we go to recess now?" Tad asked impatiently.

Mr. Ray chuckled. "Sure, but before that, I have something to tell you guys."

"What is it, Mr. Ray?" Nemo asked.

"Tomorrow, I have to join the stingray migration. So someone has to be the substitute teacher," he explained.

Nemo thought a bit. He then gasped. "I know! Hank can be the substitute teacher!"

"Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" Mr. Ray exclaimed.

"That sounds like a terrible idea!" Hank said angrily.

"Aww, come on, Hank!" Nemo said.

"Yeah, Hank! You'll make a great substitute teacher!" Dory assured.

"But I have to deal with all of these kids!"

"My friends are good, Hank. They all listen. Well, Tad talks to Sheldon sometimes during lessons. But he still listens," Nemo explained.

Hank sighed. "I don't know..."

"Please?" Dory made puppy eyes at him.

Hank sighed again. "Oh, alright."

"Yay!" Nemo hugged his tentacle.

Hank gently pushed him. "No touching please."

Nemo blushed. "Sorry."

Hank smiled. "It's okay."

Sheldon came over. "Hey, Nemo! Wanna play?"

"Sure! But first I gotta tell you something?"

"What is it?" he asked.

"Hank is gonna be our substitute teacher!"

"Really? Cool!" Sheldon smiled.

"You kids better behave," Hank said.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll be sure to behave."

"Good."

"Tag! You're it!" he exclaimed before sneezing. He swam away.

Nemo giggled. He chased him.

The next day, Marlin and Dory took him to school.

Nemo swam ahead of them.

"Woah, slow down, Nemo," Marlin said.

"Yeah, we can't keep up," Dory agreed.

Nemo slowed down. "Oh, sorry. I'm just so excited because Hank's gonna be my substitute teacher!"

"We know, Nemo. You said it like fifty times already," Marlin said.

Nemo smiled as they arrived at the school.

Pearl saw him. "Hi, Nemo!"

"Hey, Pearl," he replied.

Marlin hugged him. "Have a good day at school, son."

Nemo nuzzled him. "I will, Dad."

Dory hugged him. "Bye, Nemo!"

"Bye, son." Marlin smiled.

"Bye, Dad! Bye, Dory!" Nemo swam to his friends.

"Alright, kids," Hank began, "it's time for a new lesson."

"What are we learning about today?" a kid asked.

"Snails," Hank answered.

"Boring!" Tad said. "I wanna play!"

"You'll play after the lesson," Hank said.

"No! I wanna play now!" Tad yelled.

Hank glared at him. "Listen to your sub! I said you'll play after the lesson!"

Tad stuck out his tongue at him. He touched Hank.

"Don't touch me!" Hank pushed Tad away from him.

Sheldon and a boy fish kid crept up on Hank.

"Boo!" they yelled.

"Ahh!" Hank screamed, inking at the process.

The whole class laughed.

"That was hilarious!" Pearl exclaimed, laughing.

"Yeah!" a girl fish agreed. "Classic!"

Hank was super angry. "That's it! You guys will have no recess today!"

"Aww!" they groaned.

"You're mean, Hank!" Tad commented.

"No, I'm not! You won't listen!"

Tad frowned. "Can we have recess back?"

"Not until you listen," Hank replied.

"Fine."

Hank began the lesson.

After the lesson, Hank decided to let them have recess back.

Tad sighed.

Hank looked at Tad. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"I don't deserve to have recess time. I was being bad," he said.

Hank placed a tentacle on his back. "Tad, you deserve to have recess time. Even though you was acting earlier, you still listened to the lesson. It could've been a lot worse."

Tad smiled. "Thank you, sir." He swam away to play.

Sheldon and the same boy fish came up to Hank. "We're sorry for scaring you, Hank," Sheldon said.

"Yeah, we're very sorry," his friend said.

Hank smiled, patting their backs. "It's okay. Now go have some fun!"

They smiled and swam off to play with Nemo.

Hank watched happily as the children played.

"Being a substitute teacher isn't so bad after all," Hank admitted.


	3. New Shark Friend

Chapter 3: New Shark Friend

 **A/N: For this chapter, a friend of my mine letted me use his OC. And it is a delight using it! Enjoy! :)**

Destiny, Dory, and Nemo were playing hide and seek. Destiny was the seeker, and Dory and Nemo were the hiders.

Nemo giggled softly as he hid in Destiny's mouth. "She'll never find me here."

The whale shark felt something tickling her tongue. She laughed.

Nemo giggled and got out of her mouth.

"Nemo, were you hiding in there?" Destiny asked.

"Yep, I was. Your mouth is huge!"

Destiny chuckled. "Let's find Dory."

Dory was hiding behind a sponge bed. She chuckled.

Destiny and Nemo searched for her.

Dory's nose began to twitch. "Ah... ah..."

The forgetful tang sighed in relief when she didn't sneeze.

"Achoo!"

Nemo and Destiny looked at the sponge bed.

"We heard that!" Nemo said.

Destiny looked behind the sponge bed. "Found you!"

Dory laughed. "That was fun!"

"Yeah!" Nemo agreed.

Jenny and Charlie swam over to them.

"Hello," Jenny greeted.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Dory exclaimed.

"Hey, Kelpcake!" Charlie smiled.

Destiny and Nemo waved a greeting to them.

"What are you guys doing?" Jenny asked.

"We were just playing hide and seek," Nemo answered.

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Charlie said. "Can we play?"

"Sure!" Dory said happily.

"You guys will be the seekers," Nemo told to Jenny and Charlie, "and we'll be the hiders."

"Okay," Jenny said. She looked at Destiny.

"Destiny, aren't you playing?" she asked.

"No, I'm just gonna go on a swim," Destiny replied.

"Alright. See you later!" Dory said.

"Byeeeee!" Destiny swam away.

Angel came over to them. "Hey, guys."

"Hi, Angel! Wanna play hide and seek with us?" Dory asked.

"Sure!" Angel smiled.

Destiny swam in the beauties of the reef. She smiled as a few fish passed by her, waving their fins to her.

The whale shark waved back. She really loved the reef. She was able to get around without no walls. As she swam, she wondered if the workers at the MLI missed her.

 _They probably replaced me,_ she thought.

Destiny continued on her swim.

Meanwhile, a sand shark was swimming outside the reef. He sighed, feeling lonely. His parents were somewhere in the ocean, and he didn't know where they are. He didn't really have friends either, since he was a bit of a shy shark, unlike other sharks.

The shark then entered the beauties of the reef. He was about to swim more until he stopped. His eyes widened. His body tingled, and his face turned red. He had never felt this way before. The sand shark thought he had seen the most beautiful thing in the world.

Destiny swam in the reef. Her eyes squinted when she thought she saw someone.

The shark gasped and hid behind some coral.

"Must've been my imagination," she said.

She swam past the coral. When she passed it, she saw a tail sticking out. The whale shark looked behind the coral.

"Hello there," Destiny greeted.

The shark blushed. "H-hi."

"My name's Destiny. What's yours?"

"S-Shadow," he stammered.

"That's a nice name," she complimented.

"T-thanks. Your name is p-pretty."

Destiny smiled and blushed. "Thank you."

Shadow grinned. "Would you like to... hang out sometime? You know, just to get to know each other better."

"Sure! I'd love to!" Destiny exclaimed, smiling hugely.

 _Her smile is so cute,_ Shadow thought.

"Okay, great! How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds awesome!"

The sand shark smiled. "Okay, tomorrow it is." Shadow started to swim off. "See you tomorrow!"

"Alright, see ya!"

Destiny swam off fastly and excitedly. She couldn't wait to tell everyone about her new friend.


	4. Knowing Each other

Chapter 4: Knowing Each other

Dory and Angel were happily playing tag with each other. Angel laughed as Dory chased her.

Jenny and Charlie watched the two friends.

Jenny sighed happily. "Oh, Charlie, our little girl is all grown up."

Charlie looked at his wife. "I know, honey, I'm so proud of her for finding us."

"Me too, Charlie. Dory is so beautiful now. She was beautiful before, though."

"That is certainly true. Oh, Jenny, do you remember the day when she was born?"

"Yep, I sure do."

 **Flashback**

 _Jenny rocked her newborn baby girl in her fins, welcoming her new daughter into the world._

 _Her husband smiled gently, looking at the little bundle of joy in his wife's fins._

 _"You're such a miracle, my little one," Jenny said softly._

 _Dory babbled and looked up at her mother with big, beautiful magenta eyes._

 _Charlie kissed his newborn daughter affectionately._

 _The couple looked at their new little miracle with love._

 **End of flashback**

Jenny had a few tears in her eyes from that special and unforgettable memory.

Charlie kissed his wife gently before looking at Dory and Angel.

Dory chased Angel and laughed. She then noticed Angel looking at something.

"Hey, Angel, you okay?" she asked.

"Destiny's back!" Angel said happily.

Dory smiled, seeing her old pipe pal swimming towards them with excitement.

"Guys!" the whale shark exclaimed.

"Hi, Destiny!" they said simultaneously.

Destiny came to a halt. She caught her breath. "Guys, I met somebody!"

"Really? Who?" Angel asked.

Destiny was about to answer, but Hank and Bailey came on the scene.

"Hi, Guys!" Bailey greeted.

"Hey, Bailey," Dory and Angel said.

"Hi, Bailey. I was just about to tell them some great news," Destiny told him.

"What is it?" Bailey asked.

"I've met a nice shark named Shadow. He was a little shy, but me and him will get to know each other better." She smiled.

"Wow, that's awesome, Des!" Dory exclaimed.

"Yeah! I'd love to meet him," Angel said.

"You will soon," Destiny replied.

 **The next day...**

"Son, wake up." Marlin shook him gently.

Nemo woke up slowly. He yawned.

"Morning, Dad," he said groggily.

"Morning, Nemo. Dory and Destiny's gonna take you to school today."

"Yay!" the young clownfish exclaimed.

Marlin chuckled as his son went out of the anemone.

Nemo saw Dory and Destiny. "Hi, guys!"

"Hello, Nemo!" Dory greeted.

"Ready for school?" Destiny asked.

"Yeah! Race you guys there!" Nemo took off.

"Hey, no fair! You get a head start!" Destiny yelled playfully.

Dory laughed and raced to the school.

Nemo arrived at the school. "Yes! I won!" He did a little dance.

Destiny panted. "You sure did, buddy."

"Hi, Nemo!" Hank exclaimed.

"Hey, Hank! What are we learning about today?"

"The currents of the ocean," he replied.

"Cool!"

Dory hugged him. "Have a great day at school, Nemo."

"I will, Dory," he responded.

"Byeeee, Neeemmmoooo!" Destiny yelled.

Nemo giggled. "Byeeee, Desstinyyy!"

Later, Destiny was swimming along the reef, about to meet Shadow.

Shadow stood next to some coral.

"Hi, Destiny!" he said happily.

"Hey, Shadow!" Destiny smiled.

Shadow looked around the reef. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yes, it most certainly is," the whale shark replied.

"Let's take a swim," Shadow said.

"Alright."

They both swam around the reef. Fishes were swimming, and some of them were doing work.

"So," Destiny began, "would you like to tell me about yourself?"

"Yes. I am a very shy shark, and I don't have many friends. Also, I used to live in a neighborhood where fishes don't really get along with each other. Like only a few of them were nice."

Destiny felt sorry for Shadow. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah. It's sad, but despite that, I had an amazing childhood."

"I'm glad to hear that." Destiny's fin touched Shadow's fin.

Shadow blushed, seeing Destiny's fin touched his.

Destiny suddenly realized what she was doing. "Oh, sorry!" She quickly moved her fin away and blushed.

"I-It's okay," Shadow said.

Destiny changed the subject. "So do you have any relatives living here?"

"No. I haven't seen my Mom and Dad since I was almost a young adult."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll see them again someday," she assured him.

Shadow smiled. "Can you tell me about yourself?"

"Sure! Let's see... oh! I used to live in an institute. It's called the Marine Life Institute. I was rescued when I was little, so basically I was raised there. That place was also the place that I met Dory, my pipe pal."

"Cool!" Shadow exclaimed. "Can you tell me about her?"

"Sure. She's a blue tang with short-term memory loss. She's really friendly, and she's lots of fun.

"Wow, awesome! I wanna meet her."

"I can let you meet her tomorrow. Oh! And you can meet all my other friends too!" Destiny smiled.

"Great! But what if they don't like me?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll like you. You're friendly, even though you're shy."

Shadow smiled. "Okay."

Destiny and Shadow had been talking for a while, unaware that somebody was spying on them.


	5. Jealousy

Chapter 5: Jealousy

Shadow was taking Destiny home.

"Thank you for taking me home, Shadow. That's very sweet of you."

Somebody hid in some coral as they watched them. They narrowed their eyes a bit before sighing. They then left.

Shadow and Destiny arrived home.

"It's nice getting to know you, Destiny," Shadow said.

"It's nice getting to know you too. You are a very friendly shark." Destiny smiled.

Shadow smiled. "I'll see you later, Des."

Destiny blushed as she heard him call her a nickname.

"Bye, Shadow."

Shadow swam away.

 _He called me "Des,"_ Destiny thought.

 _Does he have a crush on me? No, Destiny, stop it! Just because he called me that doesn't mean he has a crush on me. Wait? Do I have a crush on him? No, no, that's ridiculous, I can't have a crush on him._

"Uh, Destiny? Are you okay?" Hank asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine," Destiny answered.

"Angel just told me that you made a new friend named Shadow."

"Yeah! He's a little shy, but he's really friendly once you get to know him."

'That's nice."

Meanwhile, Bailey was swimming around, murmuring to himself.

"Could she really like him? Nah, she can't like him. He's just a friend. And besides, she's only known him for like, a day."

Bailey looked at Destiny talking to Hank. He sighed dreamily.

"Oh, she's so pretty. With those blue eyes and those little white spots all around her. Then again, all whale sharks have those. She's the kind of girl you can get along with easily, and I love her personality. So sweet, talkative, and kind."

Bailey stared at her for a moment before saying, "I have a crush on her for all these years, and I never had the guts to tell her. And with that shark with her, it's going to be nearly impossible to tell her. But I don't think he has a crush on her, right?"

Shadow lied down, lost in thought. He couldn't stop thinking about Destiny. He pictured her in his mind. He then woke up from his thought.

"Ah! Shadow, stop thinking about her! She's just a friend!"

He sighed. He then looked up. "Oh, Mom and Dad. I wish you were here with me right now."

Back at the reef, Destiny was cleaning when she saw Bailey.

"Oh, hi, Bailey! What's up?"

"Hey, Destiny. I was just wondering if you want to hang out with me tomorrow."

"I'd love to, but I have plans tomorrow. I'm seeing Shadow."

"Oh... Okay.."

"I'm sorry. We'll hang out another time." Destiny continued on her cleaning.

Bailey growled under his breath and swam away.

"I can't believe she chose Shadow over me! She chose a guy that she's known for a day over me who she's known for years!" Bailey kicked a rock with his tail.

"I have to make sure that she doesn't have a crush on Shadow. And if she does, their relationship will go to the next level, and they will possibly become boyfriend and girlfriend. I definitely don't want that to happen. For now on, I'll be watching them."


	6. Meeting Shadow

Chapter 6: Meeting Shadow

 **A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating for like almost a year. To be honest, I was starting to not feel any interest in this story anymore, all of my Finding Dory fanfics actually. And even if that's the case, I still like Finding Dory, but not as much as I used to. Like a week ago, a friend of mine that I used to roleplay since December 2016 came back to roleplay with me, and it made me start liking the movie more, but not as much as I used too in 2016 and in the beginning to mid-2017. I hope you guys like this chapter. And FYI, I will try to continue my Finding Dory fanfics.**

 **P.S: Mr. Ray returned from his migration in this chapter. He didn't migrate for very long.**

Nemo was in class, listening to Mr. Ray recite his lesson on about coral reefs and what different sea creatures lived in them. Destiny kind of helped him teach the class.

The whale shark invited Shadow to Nemo's school, just so he could help the kids with stuff, like helping them on what they needed. Also, she invited him there because she wanted him to be there with her. She didn't want him to be lonely. Destiny introduced the sand shark to Nemo. Nemo thought that he was a pretty cool guy.

Shadow looked at Destiny talking.

 _Wow, Destiny sure is smart,_ he thought.

As Nemo was listening to Mr. Ray's lesson, Tad kind of dozed off. He was bored on his teacher's lesson.

"Tad!" Mr. Ray cried, having to stop mid-sentence.

The young fish immediately woke up. "Oh, I'm awake!"

"I hope you are because you are gonna have to explain to me a few sentences on what the lesson was about and what you learned," he explained.

"Aww man..."

Shadow chuckled to himself. He could kind of relate to Tad when he was just a young shark. He was smart when he was little, but sometimes the lessons that his teacher would teach him about was a bit boring to him. But despite that, he managed to pay attention to the lessons.

After the lesson, it was recess time.

"Alright, kids, who wants to play tag with me and Shadow?" Destiny asked.

"Me!" some of them exclaimed.

Destiny giggled, and they started the game of tag.

Meanwhile, Hank and Bailey were watching the kids play. They were teacher assistants now, including Destiny. They decided that Mr. Ray needed a little help on teaching the class a bit and checking on the kids to make sure they were okay. The three sea creatures improved on the school. They were such a big help in assisting the kids with things and teaching them stuff. Mr. Ray was especially impressed on how well they were on the kids, even Hank, though he could be grumpy at times.

The two sea animals also got to meet Shadow today when school started. They thought that he was pretty nice. Bailey saw the sand shark before, but he actually got to meet him. To add on to that, he was still jealous of him. He felt like every minute he and Destiny talked, he would just die of jealousy. His tail would swish back and forth in anger as the two would talk, and his brown irises would just stare at him, seeing if the two would do anything else. It's not like they were in _love_ or anything. Right?

The beluga whale was in his train of thought. _Do they really have crushes on each other? Oh, Bailey, stop it! They haven't even been friends a week yet!_

Hank noticed Bailey staring off into the distance. The beluga didn't even seem like he was staring at anything.. just lost in thought.

"Uhh, everything okay, Bailey?" the concerned octopus asked.

Bailey got back into reality. "Huh?"

"I said if everything was okay."

"Uh, yes! I'm fine!" Bailey kind of darted his eyes back and forth.

"Okay, if you say so." Hank had his attention back on the little fish.

He sighed happily. "It's happy to see kids playing, isn't it, Bailey?"

"Yep. You just know that they are having fun."

"That takes me back to when I was just a young octopus. I used to play with my friends all the time. I had a great childhood, despite having bad memories of the ocean." Hank shivered at the thought.

"Hey, you haven't told me or our friends about your memories," Bailey realized.

"Why would I tell you that? They were bad, and I don't even want to think about it," Hank said.

"Okay, Hank, I'm sorry. I understand."

The two looked at the fish again for a moment before Hank noticing Bailey giving a look at Shadow. It wasn't a normal look, no. It was kind of... off.

"Bailey, why are you looking at Shadow like that?" he asked him.

"What? No, I'm not," Bailey lied.

"Uh, yeah you are. I just saw you."

"Am not."

"Am too."

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

Destiny stopped swimming to hear the octopus and the beluga fighting.

"Uh, be right back, guys," Destiny told them before swimming over to them.

"Guys, what's going on here? Why are you fighting?"

"Mister big head here has been staring at Shadow. And it's a little creepy..." Hank told her.

"What? Bailey, is that true?" the whale shark asked, her Carolina blue eyes with curiosity.

"Uh..."

He was cut off when he heard crying.

The three sea animals dashed on over to the fish to see what was going on.

"Hey, what seems to be the problem here?" Hank asked.

"Pearl was stung by a sea urchin!" Nemo cried, worried for his friend.

The poor pink octopus was crying, her eyes looking at her hurt little tentacle.

"Aww, you poor thing," Destiny said with sympathy. "Here, let me have a look."

Pearl sniffled and let Destiny check her tentacle.

Destiny examined it. "Aww, it's only a little sting. Go rest for a bit, okay?"

"Okay, Ms. Destiny," she said, her voice a little shaky. She swam a little slowly to Mr. Ray.

"Aww, Destiny. I didn't know you were good with kids like that," Shadow said, giving a soft smile at her.

Destiny blushed a bit. "Aww, Shadow, I'm not that good with kids. I just knew that she needed to rest."

"Well, you did a good job anyway," Mr. Ray said behind her. "You three are such big helpers at this school, and when I retire someday, you three would make excellent teachers."

"Aww, I'm flattered," Bailey said.

"Now let's continue with tag!" Sheldon said.

After school, Nemo swam home with his dad, Destiny, Hank, Bailey, and Shadow. Destiny wanted him to meet a few more of her friends.

"So the name's Shadow, is it?" Marlin asked.

"Yes, sir," Shadow replied.

"Just call me Marlin."

"Okay, Marlin."

"So.. you and Destiny seem like good friends," Marlin said.

"Oh, we are. We spend like most of the day together, and like hang out, and stuff like that," Destiny explained.

"We've been friends for only four days, we have already been talking a lot, like.. best friends," Shadow said.

"Yep." Destiny smiled at him.

The sand shark stared at her eyes for a moment before turning away, trying to hide his blush.

"That's good. That must show that your friendship is kind of strong, even though you just met," Marlin told the two.

"Yeah, it's kind of like Dory and I's friendship when we were little. The first day that we met, we were already chatting up a storm."

"Friendship is good for everybody," Bailey spoke up, looking at Shadow for a second.

They soon arrived home.

"Mom! Dad! They're home!" Dory exclaimed.

The blue tangs looked at them returning, looking at Shadow at the process. Angel also looked at them.

Shadow noticed the new faces and blushed a little, shy.

"Hey, guys. Who's this?" Charlie inquired.

"This is my new friend, Shadow," Destiny answered. "We've been friends for four days."

"I-it's nice t-to meet you," Shadow stammered.

"It's nice to meet you too, dear," Jenny said. "I'm Jenny, and this is my husband, Charlie."

"Hello," Charlie said.

"A-and I'm Angel," the starfish said shyly.

Shadow looked at Angel and gave her a small smile.

"Hi, I'm Dory! I suffer from short-term memory loss," she greeted.

"Short-term memory loss? I'm sorry." Shadow felt bad for the forgetful blue tang.

"It's alright, umm... What's your name again?"

"Shadow."

"Right, Shadow!" She giggled. "Sorry, short-term memory loss." She patted her head with the tip of her fin.

The sand shark chuckled a bit. _I'll have to get used to her short-term memory loss._

"Do you wanna play hide and seek with me and Angel?" Dory asked.

"I'd love to." Shadow grinned.

* * *

Shadow was having a conversation with Dory's parents. He told them things about his self, and how Destiny was a good friend, and things like that.

Jenny and Charlie were glad to learn about how Shadow was as a sea creature, and they were glad that Destiny had a nice friend like him.

Jenny giggled. "Oh, Shadow, you are such a darling."

Shadow blushed.

Charlie chuckled. "I can tell that you and Destiny are gonna be best friends one day."

"Yeah. We would hang out a lot and not ever be bored."

Speaking of Destiny, the whale shark had her blue eyes focused on Shadow, not even looking away once. She smiled in a dreamy way.

 _Oh, he's so dreamy._

Her eyes then were content with his beautiful eyes. His brown eyes complimented his body. They were so attractive to her. Her heart beated like a drum, and her spotted tail waved furiously.

She looked at her waving tail. "Keep it calm, tail!"

Destiny forced her tail to stop. She then thought of something that she once thought of similarly before.

"I can't have a crush on Shadow. We are just friends, and we just met a few days ago. I guess I'm just letting it all go to my head."

As Destiny kept looking at Shadow for a few moments, Bailey noticed.

"Why is she keep looking at him like that? Oh, please don't tell me that she has a crush on him," he said.

"Bailey, no! Not this again," he then said to himself. "Why do you keep on thinking that she has a crush on him?"

The beluga sighed and swam away to get something to eat to clear his mind.

It had been some hours later. The clear, blue ocean waters that were light was now dark, showing it was night time.

"Alright, Nemo. Time for bed," Marlin said, guiding his son to the anemone.

The young clownfish yawned. "Can I say goodnight to all our friends first?"

"Okay, but hurry."

Nemo quickly swam off.

"Well, I guess I should be going now," Shadow said.

"Alright. You will be here tomorrow, right?" Destiny asked.

The sand shark chuckled. "I promise. Good night, Destiny."

"Good night, Shadow."

Shadow smiled and swam away.

Destiny swam into her cave. Her cave was big enough for two sea creatures to live in.

She curled up, getting comfortable. Destiny then stared out at the beauties of the view in the coral reef. The whale shark felt kind of bad for Shadow because he had to live by himself. She wished she would ask him to stay here at the coral reef with her and her friends, but she was too embarrassed to do so. She thought that the sand shark would just reply with a simple "no" because he would be just fine in his home, but that was just her.

Destiny yawned hugely. She closed her sleepy eyes and went to sleep.


	7. A Strong Friendship

Chapter 7: A Strong Friendship

Shadow's brown eyes opened up from hours from sleep. The sand shark's eyes were awake, but not his own body. He wanted to still sleep, but he wanted to see Destiny this morning. Eating breakfast with her and her friends sounded like a good idea to him. Plus, he wanted to spend more time with her friends. He felt like he didn't spend enough time with them, and only Destiny, showing that their friendship was developing.

Shadow went out of his cozy cave that was similar to Destiny's and gave a nice stretch. He sighed in content and shook his body a bit. He gave a deep breath and then let it out. Shadow looked around the beauties outside of the coral reef. It was indeed a peaceful morning, as it was not loud, and there were a few fish and sea creatures swimming about. Even though he loved his home and the peacefulness of it, he had to admit that he gets pretty lonely. He lived by himself, and he had been doing so for some years now. The sand shark used to live at his parents' house in the ocean near the British Isles. Now that he had moved out, he felt kind of lonely. At least he had Destiny. She made him feel comfortable in the coral reef by showing him around and stuff.

He began to swim to the coral reef. It had been two weeks since he met Destiny. He had to say that she had made his life better. It wasn't bad before, but he felt that she made him happier during the last two weeks. He could tell that their friendship was definitely getting stronger. They were learning more and more about each other, and he felt like Destiny was the right friend for him. Not to mention that he found her quite... well... beautiful... He had never seen anyone more beautiful to him in his life. Whale sharks, in his opinion, were the beauty of the ocean in his eyes. The most elegant sea creatures ever. Now, there had been that one remaining question that had been sitting in his mind since he first met her...

 _Do I have a crush on her?_ he thought.

* * *

"Nemo, did you brush?" Marlin asked.

"Yeah, of course I did, Dad," Nemo lied.

"Son, I know you're lying. Brush."

"Aww, man." Nemo sighed and began brushing up against the anemone.

Dory watched the two clownfish from her brain coral and giggled at Nemo. She founded Nemo to be funny. The two had a really good relationship together. Dory was glad that she met Nemo.

The two clownfish swam out of the anemone.

"Morning, Dory!" Nemo said.

"Good morning, Nemo," Dory replied.

"Ahh, it seems like it's gonna be a nice day today," Marlin said.

"Yep!" Dory smiled.

"Who's gonna prepare breakfast?" Nemo asked.

"I think Hank is," Marlin answered.

Destiny then swam over to them.

"Gooooodddd mooorrrnnniiinnng!"

Nemo and Dory giggled.

"Mooorrrnnnniiinnnngggg Deeessstttiiinnnyyyy!" Dory said.

Destiny giggled before gasping. "I haven't taught Shadow how to speak whale yet! I can't believe myself!"

"Aww, it's okay, Destiny. I'm sure you will teach him," Nemo reassured.

"Oh, I will. And I know that he will do a great job on it."

"You know, Destiny, you have been hanging out with Shadow a lot," Marlin told her.

Destiny turned away, trying to hide her blush. "Well, he's a great friend."

"Yeah, he's cool," Nemo agreed.

"I think you are developing an interest in him," Marlin said.

"He's a really good friend to hang out with it. Even though he may be shy at first, he will get used to you," Destiny explained.

"I would like to spend more time with him. I haven't really known that much about him, other than that he's a nice shark."

Destiny felt guilty and frowned. "I'm sorry, Marlin. I think I have gotten a bit overboard about Shadow. We've been hanging out with each other a lot. I didn't really have Shadow to hang out with you and our friends more."

"Aww, it's okay."

"Maybe we should cut back on not seeing each other a lot."

"Oh, no no no! Don't ever do that. I know how much Shadow means to you."

"No, really. I want Shadow to see you guys more often. I really want him to see how good you guys are as friends."

"Awww!" Dory exclaimed.

"Alright. If that will make you happy."

Destiny smiled. "Thanks, Marlin."

Shadow arrived at the Great Barrier Reef. He saw Destiny with Dory, Nemo, and Marlin.

"Hey, Destiny!" he called.

Destiny turned around. "Oh, Shadow! I was not expecting you here!"

Shadow rubbed his fin. "Yeah. I want to eat breakfast with you and your friends if you don't mind."

"We would love to have you for breakfast!" Nemo said.

Shadow blushed a bit. "Thank you."

* * *

At breakfast, they were all eating and talking.

"Mmm! This breakfast is delicious!" Shadow complimented.

"Why, thank you. I made it," Hank replied.

Shadow continued to dig in his breakfast.

"Woah, not too fast, dear. Or you might get the hiccups," Jenny warned him.

Shadow blushed and gulped down his food. "Sorry, Jenny. It's just that the food is so good."

Destiny giggled at him before taking a piece of kelp.

Bailey looked at Shadow and Destiny. He was still jealous of them. The childhood crush that remained in him was starting to decrease. He thought that Destiny was spending way too much time with Shadow now and not with her friends. Although they and Shadow would play games together sometimes, Destiny was mostly spending time with Shadow. The beluga had to admit that he was a bit tired of being jealous, and he wanted to tell at least one of them his thoughts.

Destiny saw some breakfast hanging out of his mouth and giggled.

"W-what's so funny?" Shadow asked.

"You have some breakfast hanging out of your mouth. Here let me get it off." She reached out her fin and got out the breakfast.

Shadow blushed by that. "T-thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, Shadow. Want to take a swim with me after we eat?" Marlin asked.

"Sure, Marlin. That sounds nice."

"Oh, and after that, you can play with me, Dory, and Angel!" Nemo said happily.

Angel smiled softly at Shadow.

Shadow smiled back at Angel. He thought she was a sweetheart.

"Okay. I can do that."

* * *

"I'll see you later, Des," Shadow said as he swam beside Marlin.

"Alright. See you." Destiny waved a spotted fin at her friend.

"Des, huh?" Marlin chuckled at the nickname.

Shadow blushed. "Just thought it's a cute nickname for her."

"You are gaining interest in Destiny aren't you? I mean, I can tell that your friendship with her is getting stronger every day," he explained to him.

"I-interest? Well... kind of. She's a really great friend."

"Yeah, she really is. I guess you could say that she has the biggest heart... literally."

Shadow giggled. "She's really caring."

"So... care to tell me about yourself?"

"I told you a little about me before, but I'm happy to tell you more."

"Alright." Marlin grinned.

* * *

Bailey couldn't let out his nervousness as he swam to Destiny's place.

"What would she do? What would she say?"

He was actually gonna tell her about his jealousy. Bailey was also gonna tell her about his small crush. He couldn't believe that he had the guts for this.

"Okay, Bailey," he said to himself. "You can do this. Just stay calm."

Bailey swam closer to Destiny's cave. He could see her in it. He took a deep breath and then released it.

"Oh, hi, Bailey!" Destiny smiled.

"Hey, Destiny."

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"It's something important I have to tell you.."

"Oh. What is it?"

Bailey gulped. "I..."

"You what?"

"I... I kind of have a... crush on you..." The last words that he said were kind of mumbled and spoken softly.

Destiny just stood there, speechless. Bailey? Having a crush on her? No.. No.. It couldn't be true..

She then felt her body warming up, her cheeks flushed.

Bailey rubbed his fins. His tail was also waving a bit nervously.

The two just sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Bailey broke the silence. "Um, I should be going now.."

"No, wait!" Destiny placed a fin up. "H-how long did you have a crush on me for?"

"Since we were little. But since you are now spending time with Shadow, my crush on you have decreased. Now I just have a small crush on you, but I'm sure that will go away soon."

"Oh.. After all these years-"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I should've just told you about my crush on you back then. But I was a bundle of nerves. And as we got older, I didn't have the chance to tell you. But now, here today, I have officially told you now."

Destiny smiled and chuckled softly. "Oh, Bailey. I was just saying after all these years, I had someone who had a crush on me, and I didn't even realize it. That's... that's kind of funny to me.."

Bailey also chuckled before frowning. "Oh, yeah. There's another thing I wanna tell you."

"What is that?" Destiny asked.

"For the past two weeks, I've been... jealous of you and Shadow."

Destiny gasped gently.

Bailey sighed. "I know. I'm really sorry. I've been watching you both and you two seem to be really close together.. Like best friends... Or... I believe it's more than best friends..."

Destiny's cheeks once again were flushed red. She felt like she was in an oven.

"I- We... We are just friends... O-our friendship is just strong that's all," she stammered.

"I understand. You two are meant for each other. And... I had to admit that I was making sure that you didn't have a crush on Shadow..."

Destiny covered her face. "I do not have a crush on Shadow!"

"Okay, okay. Just saying. Anyway, I'm really sorry. My jealousy was a little too far.."

"It's okay. If I had a crush on someone for all these years and if they had this friend that they hang out almost every day with, I'm sure I would've felt the same way."

Bailey smiled. "So you forgive me?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I do!" Destiny gave him a big hug.

Bailey laughed and hugged her back. "Oh, I'm so glad I got that off my chest."

Destiny broke up the hug. "Me too. I'm glad you told me."

Bailey suddenly smirked at her. "So, do you _really_ have a crush on Shadow?"

"Bailey!" Destiny blushed.

The beluga laughed. "I'm just teasing ya, Des. I'm glad that you and Shadow are friends."

"Me too, Bailey."

"You know, I have to tell you that you are so adorable when you blush."

"Ugh! Bailey! Don't make me have to blush a fourth time!" Destiny covered her face.

"It really is though!"

Destiny's face broke out red for like the millionth time. "Alright! You made me blush a fourth time! I'm gonna get ya!"

"Ahh!" Bailey screamed playfully, swimming away from his friend.

* * *

Nemo was the first to saw his dad and Shadow return. "They're back!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, you two," Hank said. "How was your swim?"

"It was quite nice," Shadow answered.

"Yeah. It was great to hang out with Shadow and learning about him," Marlin said, his orange tail waving gently.

"That's cool! Now can you play with us, Shadow?" Nemo asked.

Shadow giggled. "Of course, Nemo."

Dory, Nemo, Shadow, and Angel spent the next hour playing hide and seek, tag, and other games.

"Woo, I'm exhausted," Shadow said. "It was nice playing with you three."

"Yeah... Wait, played what?" Dory asked, confused.

Angel giggled softly before replying, "We played some fun games, Dory, like tag."

"Oh, yeah..."

Bailey looked at Shadow and sighed. It was time to tell him.

"Hey, Shadow. I have something to tell you.."

"What is it, Bailey?"

* * *

"Oh, Bailey. I understand that you were jealous of me and Des. I forgive you." Shadow hugged him.

"Phew. I thought that you would never want to see me again," Bailey admitted.

Shadow chuckled. "Oh, no no. I'm not the type of fish who gets mad easily. I'm a shy, gentle, shark."

"I can say that you are the exact opposite of Marlin. He gets pretty cranky and worried quickly."

"Oh, yeah. Marlin actually told me about that on our swim. It's nice to know other fishes personalities, you know?"

"Yeah. It really shows who you are as a person."

Shadow nodded. "You know, Bailey, it's cute that you and Destiny used to live in the MLI together."

"Oh, yeah, those were fun times. Even though I had a crush on her, I was quite jealous of how much attention she had gotten. I guess she was the most popular sea creature there."

"Oh wow..."

"Yeah... I thought I was not good enough. But I realized just because many people like someone, it doesn't mean that you are not bad."

"I certainly agree." Shadow gave him a smile, showing his sharp teeth.

Bailey gave a big yawn. "Oh, my. Excuse me. I think I need a nap."

"It sounds like you do," he chuckled. "I'm gonna go see what Destiny's doing."

"Alright. See you after my nap, Shadow." He swam up to the surface.

The sand shark swam off to see his friend.

* * *

"Would you like to sleep with me tonight, Shadow?" Destiny asked.

"Y-yes. Thank you."

Destiny giggled and waved her tail gracefully.

Shadow couldn't take his eyes off on Destiny's tail. He liked how it moved back and forth. To him, it was beautiful. He wished he would touch her tail, but he was embarrassed on how Destiny would react to it.

His mind took off on Destiny's tail when Nemo said goodnight to him and Destiny.

"Huh? Oh, goodnight, Nemo," he said.

"Sweet dreams, Nemo." Destiny smiled at him.

Shadow patted the little clownfish on the head before briefly seeing his lucky fin. He had seen it before, but he decided not to question it. Now, he was curious about what was wrong with his fin.

Nemo swam away into the anemone.

"Hey, Des. I hope you don't mind me asking this, but umm... What's wrong with his fin?"

"Oh, he was born with it. Marlin told me about it when I moved here," she told him.

"Oh..." Shadow felt kind of bad for Nemo.

"Despite his fin, he is a happy and healthy clownfish, and he's living a normal life. I'm happy for him."

"That's good. I'm glad that he is not worried about his small fin." Shadow grinned.

A yawn escaped from Destiny's mouth. "It's best that we both head to bed."

"Yeah." Destiny swam into her cave with Shadow.

Shadow got into the cave and made himself comfortable.

A thought came up into his friend's mind. "Oh, Shadow, I haven't told you this, but..."

"But what?" Shadow looked into Destiny's eyes. They were so beautiful that he just had to not look away. He felt the hotness in his cheeks rising as he stared into them.

"I'm nearsighted."

"W-what?" he said surprisingly.

"Back at the institute," she began, "I constantly kept bumping into walls, and I hated that. But now that I'm living in the ocean, I'm free."

"Wow... Destiny, I.. I didn't know you had nearsightedness."

"I'm sorry I haven't told you this before. I... I was scared that you didn't want me around anymore because of it."

Shadow's eyes widened and took her fin. "Destiny, I would never not want to be your friend anymore because of your bad eyesight. You are just the way you are, and I like that about you. You have a great personality, and that is what I see in fish. It's what inside that counts, not outside. Or disability. Disability doesn't count either. I am happy that you are happy."

"Oh, Shadow..." Destiny blushed at his words. His words were so strong to her that she didn't know what to say.

Shadow also blushed and let go of her fin.

"That's very sweet of you, Shadow."

"T-thanks. We should go to sleep now."

Destiny yawned. "Goodnight, Shadow."

"Goodnight, Des."

Destiny grinned at him before noticing him shivering. "Aww, are you cold?"

"Y-yeah." He shivered.

Destiny snuggled up with him. "Is that better?"

Shadow felt Destiny's warm body against his. His own body heat was now starting to rise because of the snuggle but had eventually died down.

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem." Destiny nuzzled against him.

"Hey, Des. I have to tell you that your neighbors are the nicest neighbors I've met," he said.

"Oh, yeah. They are great friends to me." Destiny yawned hugely.

"We should really be getting some sleep now," Shadow told her.

"Definitely. I'm so tired, that I can sleep for weeks."

Shadow giggled. "Night, Destiny."

"Goodnight, Shadow." Destiny snuggled up with him some more before closing her eyes.

Shadow looked at Destiny's tail and stroked it a bit before closing his own eyes, drifting off to sleep.


	8. Substitute Teacher (Again)

Chapter 8: Substitute Teacher... Again

Destiny awoke with the morning sun's rays on her closed eyes, making them a little uncomfortable. She groaned a bit. The whale shark really didn't want to wake up, but she had to. Since she was a teacher's assistant, she had to go to Nemo's school every day, except for the weekends, of course. Being a teacher's assistant was enjoyable to her, and she loved seeing the children learn, especially Nemo. It was good for her to see that Nemo had some knowledge in his little fish brain. And she could tell that he loved being in school and his teacher and friends. She would continue to be the teacher's assistant until Nemo was too old for him to go to school anymore.

She hesitated a little to wake up until opening her blue eyes. Destiny gave a huge yawn and stretched her spotted fins. She looked out of her cozy, blue cave and smiled, seeing the peaceful ocean life in front of her. Her home was not that far from where Nemo and her friends were at. They would sometimes visit her, but a lot of times, Destiny would visit them. It had been three months since Destiny and her Marine Life Institute friends had lived in the ocean with Marlin and Nemo. And for the whale shark, it had been a blast. Getting to actually live in the big blue was incredible for her since she had been in a tank her whole life! Well, not exactly her whole life... She was rescued as a young pup when her tail was caught in a fish net. The humans wanted to study the poor, little pup, not knowing that she was absolutely fine in the ocean. It was her home! The cruel humans would've taken her away, but the Marine Life Institute workers helped her untangle the net out of the tail as soon as the humans went back to their boats to write down some stuff about young Destiny. They came like, an hour later when the humans were still discussing stuff about whale sharks and what would they do with the young whale shark. They sounded like they wanted to.. harm little Destiny. The humans had been told that whale sharks are dangerous, and they didn't want the pup to grow up to harm people. But, they were totally wrong. Destiny had grown up to be a beautiful, caring, and sweet whale shark. Thankfully, she was taking into the institute to be taken care of, but she left behind something really important: her parents...

The whale shark suddenly began to giggle cutely. Something was tickling her tail. It felt like someone's sucking on it...

She quickly spun her head around to find Shadow sucking her big, spotted tail in his sleep. As soon as she noticed, her face immediately turned red with embarrassment.

"Shadow!" she exclaimed, trying to wake him up.

The sand shark didn't hear her. He continued to suck her tail in his sleep.

"Mmm..." he said quietly.

"Shadow!" she said louder. She really wanted him to stop. It was getting too embarrassing, and she was worried that other fish would see them.

Shadow opened his weary eyes and snorted a bit. "Huh?" he said sleepily.

"Shadow, you're-"

The sand shark noticed what he was doing. His face turned bright red. "Oh gosh! D-Destiny, I-I'm so sorry! I-I was dreaming about ice cream!"

"I-It's okay," Destiny stammered.

The two friends just sat there in silence for a few moments before Shadow broke it.

"Let's go see Nemo and the others before school starts."

"Yeah, okay." Destiny grabbed Shadow's fin.

Shadow blushed a bit before the two began on their swim.

* * *

As soon as they saw Nemo with his dad, they immediately stopped holding fins.

"Look, Dad! It's Destiny and Shadow!" Nemo pointed a little fin at them.

Marlin looked at them and smiled at the two. "Morning, guys!"

"Morning, Marlin! Morning, Nemo!" Destiny grinned widely at the excited little clownfish.

"Good morning," Shadow simply replied.

Nemo swam up to Destiny and hugged her. "Can we go to school now?"

"Woah, Nemo, it's still too early. And I'm guessing you didn't eat breakfast yet."

"No, I didn't. We are all waiting for you guys so we can eat breakfast together. We would never forget you guys," Nemo innocently said.

Destiny couldn't help but smile at the cute clownfish. He was so sweet and innocent. Who would ever disown Nemo?

She then looked at Dory and all the rest of her friends, who were getting ready for breakfast.

"Aww, Nemo, you are so sweet," she then said to him.

Nemo blushed at the comment. "Thanks."

"Alright, breakfast is ready," Jenny called.

"Yay! I'm starving!" he exclaimed before he looked at Destiny and Shadow.

"I bet I woke up earlier than you guys."

Shadow giggled. "I bet you did."

"Oh, it's a competition now, hmm?" Destiny asked playfully.

Nemo giggled and swam towards his friends to go eat breakfast.

* * *

Nemo held onto his dad's fin. Like always, he was excited to go to school. Most kids thought that school was boring, but to Nemo, it wasn't. He loved learning about the ocean and what sea creatures lived in it. Also, learning about different types of sea animals and how the ocean could impact the world, positively or negatively. The best part of school was recess, just like every other kid's best part of school was.

When they arrived at school, he noticed that something, or _someone_ , was missing.

"Huh? That's weird," Destiny said. "Where's Mr. Ray?"

"He's probably late," Marlin answered.

Shadow didn't come with them to the school because he wanted to stay back to hang out with Dory, her parents, and Shadow.

Nemo swam over to his classmates and settled in among them. He then saw his dad go over to Hank, who was talking to Bailey. They didn't eat breakfast with them because they wanted to go to the school early to take care of some stuff.

"Excuse me," Marlin said loud enough so they could hear.

Hank and Bailey turned their heads to Marlin.

"Oh, hello, Marlin," Hank greeted.

"Hello. Is Mr. Ray late, or do you know what happened to him?"

The octopus and beluga exchanged glances for a second before looking at the curious clownfish.

"Mr. Ray came up to us before school started, and he told us that he was sick with a cold. So, he couldn't teach today, or possibly the next couple days, so that means, I have to be substitute teacher _again,_ " Hank explained. He really didn't like the idea of being the substitute teacher again, especially if he had to deal with all these kids. But, he would do it for Mr. Ray. He had to admit, he kind of liked being the sub a little bit. It was good to see the children learn and he liked seeing them play, reminding himself when he was a little octopus.

"Oh. Well, I hope he gets better soon," Marlin said, feeling a bit sympathy for the teacher.

"Yeah, me too," Hank agreed.

"Yay! Hank's gonna be our sub again!" Nemo said excitedly to Pearl, Tad, and Sheldon.

"He's nice when you get to know him," Pearl said.

"Hank is a grumpy pants. Whenever I don't listen to him, he doesn't allow me to play at recess time. Just stand there quietly, not doing nothing when recess time is here," Tad explained.

Sheldon sneezed. "Well, Tad, most of the time, you don't listen. I know he can be grumpy, but he's a good sub."

Tad rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"One of these days, you're gonna appreciate Hank being a substitute," Nemo told the obnoxious little fish.

"Not gonna happen." Tad believed that the octopus was mean to him. He was oblivious to that fact that he was only grumpy at him because he didn't listen to the lessons most of the time. Sometimes Tad was a good kid, but his bad behavior made his classmates not want to play with him because of his bad state.

Pearl sighed. "Oh, Sheldon. You need to learn how to listen to Mr. Hank."

"But the lessons are boring! Why can't we have fun lessons?" Tad complained.

"Well, Tad, lessons are supposed to help you learn," Marlin chimed in.

"And plus, it's really interesting to learn about the ocean," Nemo added.

Marlin nodded in agreement. "Lessons are not made for kids like you to be boring, it's made to help you learn about the ocean and the world in general. Believe me, I didn't like most of the lessons when I was a kid, and now I'm here, as an adult, knowing many things about the ocean. The lessons that my teacher taught me impacted on me, and I am thankful that my teacher taught helpful and important lessons to help me and my classmates learn. Just think about it, if no one taught you all these lessons, you're gonna be.. well... dumb as you grow up. You don't want that, do you? You want to be a smart man when you grow up."

Tad just stood there, dumbstruck about what Marlin said. It was a lot to take in, and he didn't really know what to say. He awkwardly looked at the older fish wide-eyed.

"Uh... Dad, I think you just broke Tad," Nemo chuckled.

Marlin laughed a bit before looking at the dumbstruck child. "Tad, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine.." He looked at his classmates that were suddenly, all together, which means that class was about to start.

Tad quickly changed the subject. "Well, what do you know? Class is starting. Uh, I-I'll see you later, Marlin."

"Yeah, see you. Bye, son," he then said to Nemo before swimming away back home.

* * *

Hank taught the students a lesson about how sea animals can get affected by pollution by the humans and how littering in the ocean could impact them in a bad way.

As the octopus taught, he could see the fish kids fully listening to him, eyes glistening with interest. He couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that everyone liked listening to the lesson, except for one particular little fish...

Tad was looking at Hank, but he wasn't exactly paying attention. His eyes didn't have the same sparkle feeling as his classmates. He was thinking about what Marlin had told him earlier. He didn't realize that lessons were meant more than he thought.

 _Are lessons really important?_ he thought.

He remembered mostly on what the older clownfish told him, and his stomach churned at the feeling that if he didn't pay attention to any of the lessons then he wouldn't be successful in school. And if he was an adult fish not learning about any of the lessons in school, he would be... dumb. Tad definitely didn't wanna be dumb, especially one day, he would learn how to survive and learn how to adapt to ocean life without his parents.

 _Maybe I should learn how to pay attention to the lessons..._

He then heard a voice speak to him.

"Tad, are you okay, kid?" Hank asked.

Tad snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his substitute teacher. He stared at him for a few seconds before his eyes darted to his classmates, who were staring at him concerned. He quickly became embarrassed by this scene.

"Uh, yeah... I-I'm okay.."

Hank continued on with the lesson.

Tad slowly began to learn about his little lesson from Marlin and began to pay attention, though he talked a few times and earned glares from Hank. He was beginning to pay attention in school, and his sub couldn't be any happier. No more timeouts during recess time. Okay, that was not entirely true, hence Tad misbehaved a few times during the few days that Hank taught. But nonetheless, Tad was becoming to be a good kid, and he earned to play more at recess time.

* * *

Hank was swimming back home along with Marlin, Nemo, Dory, Bailey, and Destiny. It was another long day at school being the sub. He had been subbing for almost a week now, and Mr. Ray still hadn't recovered from his cold. It must had been a really bad cold by the looks of it.

The octopus sighed. All he wanted to do was relax. Dealing with all of those kids made him tired. He then thought about Tad. The little fish had slowly begun to change on him. When he began being the substitute teacher the first time, he had hardly listened. Tad would listen to him a little bit if Hank gave him one of those angry glares. He hated those. When Hank would continue talking, he would whisper to one of his classmates without Hank noticing him, indicating that Tad was still not listening, even though he previously listened a little before. Now, the young butterfly fish was slowly learning to listen. He still had his faults, but he was getting better though. He didn't expect Tad to be perfect. He still had some learning to do. It was a part of growing up, learning from your mistakes.

"How was school today, Hank?" Marlin asked.

"Oh, it was alright. Just the usual. Although, Tad is beginning to listen to my lessons."

Marlin smiled. As soon as Hank said that, he immediately thought back to what he said to Tad a few days ago. "Ah, that's good, Hank. I told him that lessons are important."

"I think that's what changed his mind." Hank grinned.

"Yeah. I'm glad to hear that he is now paying attention."

"He's still obnoxious though," Hank admitted. "He's not as obnoxious as before but he is still obnoxious. Oh, kids..."

Marlin chuckled. "We can never understand them, can we?"

Hank shook his head and giggled. "We were kids once Marlin. Kids can be unpredictable. You know that I'm not a big fan of kids."

"I know that. Kids can do some silly stuff, but you can't help but just can't resist their innocent nature. Kids have yet to discover what lies all over the world when they reach adulthood."

"Kids can be something." Hank smiled as he watched Nemo race Dory back home.

"Oh, I can't wait to see what Nemo turns out to be when he grows up," Marlin said.

"He's a great kid, a pretty smart and determined one too," Hank commented.

Marlin smiled at his friend before his smile slowly turned into a frown. His scarlet eyes gazed down at the ocean floor.

"What's wrong, Marlin?"

"I... I don't want my son to leave me, ever. Just thinking about him being a grownup and not the amazing kid that he is now is sad to me. He's gonna leave me, living on his own, and possibly having a mate. I want my son to stay with me forever, so we can always be together and cherish the moments that we have. He's my only child and son. When he leaves me, it's not gonna be the same. Even if you guys were gonna be here with me, Nemo would be missing, and this home is not complete without him." Marlin's heart ached a bit with sadness and fear about Nemo eventually leaving him and adapting to be a grownup. Even though he was not as anxious and worried as before, he was still worried about his only child being by himself in the big blue. He still had this protective nature to his son, and he wanted the best in Nemo. He never, never wanted him to leave at his side ever.

Hank instantly comforted his friend. He wrapped a tentacle around him and spoke softly. "Hey, Marlin. It's gonna be okay. Don't think too far ahead about his future. He's still a child and still learning things. And how do you even know that he's gonna move away from here? He might possibly stay here with you. He loves you, you know. Plus, Dory's living here with her parents."

Marlin sighed. "Hank, when Nemo's an adult, he may have a mate. And as far as that goes, he might have kids on his own. Clownfish have a lot of eggs, and this space here will not be enough for them all."

Hank shook his head. "Marlin, you worry too much. You don't even know that. You don't know if he's gonna have a lot of kids, a little number of kids, or none at all. As Nemo turns into an adult, he's going to make his own decisions, and a parent would not tell him what to do. And even if he would decide to move away, he would always visit you. He looks up to you."

The clownfish's worry in his eyes had eventually disappeared. He looked up at Hank's blue eyes and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Hank. You don't know how much your words mean to me. I just have to keep focusing on the present and not worry about the future. The present is what is most important now."

"Glad you understand me." Hank grinned.

The two returned home. Nemo came up to them.

"You guys took a while to get home. Dory and I got here wayyyy before you guys."

Marlin chuckled at his fun-loving son. "Sorry, Nemo. We chatted a bit on the way here."

"Adults talk too much." Nemo swam away to go to play with Destiny and Angel.

The two giggled at Nemo before heading over to Jenny and Charlie to chat with them.


	9. A New Pet?

Chapter 9: A New Pet?

 **A/N: Happy New Year to everyone! Yeah, I know this is late. I was originally gonna post this at the beginning of January, but it got delayed because of time management and school. But anyway, I hope this year will go great for everyone. All I have to say is just be yourself and don't let anyone get you down. Have a happy, blessed, and safe 2019. :)**

 **If anyone has any ideas for any of my stories, please PM me. It's difficult for me coming up with ideas, which makes being a writer hard. I do enjoy writing, but it's just that I struggle to make up ideas. Good thing I have a friend that comes up with quite a lot of ideas for me. :)**

Nemo quickly made his way to Destiny. He was swimming like he was in a race or a game of tag. The boy stopped when he reached the whale shark, who was talking to Dory. He gasped for breath, coughing a few times.

The two instantly noticed the young clownfish. They looked at him, a bit concerned.

"Woah, Nemo! Are you okay, buddy?" Destiny asked. She squinted her nearsighted eyes to get a better look at the clownfish.

"Y-yeah! I need to get into your mouth quickly!" He whipped his body around, making sure that he didn't see the one fish who was looking for him. The coast was clear for now.

"Okay... Why?" Destiny inquired.

"No questions answered! Now hurry!" he demanded.

"Okay, okay!" Destiny opened her huge mouth. When Destiny and Dory were kids, little Dory would use to hide in her mouth when they were playing hide and seek. She always loved that hiding place. Being inside a fish's mouth was a big experience for her. The child would look around in amazement and awe as she stared into the darkness of her bigger friend's mouth. Sometimes, she would jump up and down on Destiny's tongue, making the young whale shark laugh. One time, she accidentally went too deep. It was terrifying, but good thing that Destiny felt her almost go in her throat. That mistake was solved by coughing Dory out.

Nemo went inside her mouth. Destiny closed it. She was still confused on why Nemo wanted to be in her mouth.

"Oh, look! It's Marlin!" Dory announced. She waved her left fin in excitement. "Hi, Marlin! How are you do- Oh, you don't look happy."

The older clownfish indeed didn't look at his best state right now. His face showed irritation with his eyebrows narrowed, and his forehead was creased. He briefly looked around.

"Where is Nemo?" he said angrily, gritting through his teeth.

"Woah, Mr. Grumpy Gills, calm down." Dory waved her fins in a calming gesture towards the fish.

Inside Destiny's mouth, Nemo could actually hear his father speaking. Not clearly, but muffled. He silently prayed that Destiny wouldn't tell his hiding place.

 _Oh... So that's why Nemo wanted to hide in my mouth_ , Destiny realized to herself.

"Oh, um, I don't know where he is at the moment, Marlin," Destiny lied. She tried her best not to show that she was fibbing. She kept her face in a serious state, focusing her eyes on Marlin.

The clownfish turned to Dory. "Dory, do you know where Nemo is?"

"Hmmm..." Dory looked up in thought, placing a fin on her chin. She forgot where Nemo actually was, and at the same time, she didn't remember that the boy didn't want to be seen.

"Can't remember. Sorry."

The father sighed in anger, mixed in with sadness. He was also a little worried. Marlin knew that sometimes his son didn't want to go to bed, which resulted in Nemo hiding from him or swimming quickly away from him. He certainly didn't feel like searching for his son again, after doing so when the huge incident happened. Everyone in the entire ocean practically knew the story already.

As he trailed away from Destiny and Dory, his worriedness increased a bit more. The ocean was literally 70% of the earth. In an ocean that was huge, Marlin worried that Nemo was lost again. He knew he was a worried fish, and he tried to control his anxiety, but at a time like this, at _night_ , it was scary. It was already past his son's bedtime. Marlin didn't like it one bit when Nemo tried to hide from him unless they were playing a game. Scary thoughts fluttered around inside his head.

"What if he gets hurt? What if he gets eaten by a shark? What if he gets sick by some disease spreading around the ocean?" The anxious fish frantically swam around in circles. More thoughts managed to creep inside the poor clownfish's head.

Since it was night time, there were less fish swimming about in the ocean, so Marlin was kind of fine letting his anxiety out in public.

Nemo wondered if his dad was gone. He was in Destiny's mouth for a few minutes now. He jumped up and down on her tongue, trying to get his friend's attention.

Destiny giggled, and she opened her mouth.

The young clownfish cautiously went out of her mouth. His father's matching scarlet eyes darted around. "Is he gone?"

"Yes, he's gone," Destiny answered.

"Nemo! You were in Destiny's mouth this whole time?" Dory asked in shock.

"Yes, Dory. You saw me went inside her mouth. I was hiding from my dad," Nemo told her.

"Ohh..."

It was quiet for a moment, until Dory said, "Why?"

"Because it's bedtime for Nemo. I'm pretty sure it's past his bedtime now," Destiny replied.

"Okay. Hey, let's all play tag!"

"Okay!" Nemo grinned excitedly.

* * *

"Awww, Dad! Come on!" Nemo squeaked. He tried to pull away from his serious father's grasping fin, but he failed.

"No! You know it's your bedtime, Nemo! I searched everywhere for you! It felt like years finding you! Luckily I spotted you before you had the perfect chance to find your other hiding place," Marlin explained.

"Dad, you know I don't like bedtime. Well, most of the time anyways..." he admitted.

"And you know I get worried easily. Son, I looked around, which I believe, the whole ocean for you once! I spent countless hours because of you, Nemo. Just you wandering off from me alone for like... 10 minutes makes me worried already enough! Just... please. Don't wander from me or hide from me like that. Your old man can get a heart attack."

Nemo rolled his eyes. "You have to stop worrying too much about me. I'm fine being on my own sometimes. Remember what Destiny said. Don't worry so much or you'll never get to experience happiness and joy of your son, which is me, trying new things. You'll just be a worry wart if you just only focus on my safety. To add to that, you wouldn't even spend time with your other friends if you only spend most of the day watching over me like a baby."

 _"Well, you can't ever let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him_ ," Dory once said to Marlin.

That one sentence that the forgetful tang told Marlin came back to him once he listened to his son's sudden wisdom. Both of them were right. Overcrowding his son was not the way to do it. He needed to let Nemo explore and discover things on his own and let him grow. He did develop a little after that long, tedious adventure of trying to find his son, but he would still worry about stuff.

"Nemo, son, I know you are sick of me worrying about you, but bedtime is important. I've been telling you this for like... I think a few years now. I... I'm just worried about your safety, that's all."

"Dad, I have friends who look out for me. I'm totally fine. And if something bad would happen, then I'll get help right away. I know what to do," he confidently said.

Marlin smiled affectionately at his son. He was growing up so fast. One day he hatched from his egg, the next day he would eventually move out and have a mate on his own. He wished he could stop his little boy from growing, but he couldn't. It was life. Seeing his son growing up was the little things in life that got to him.

"Oh, my little Nemo is growing up so fast. Where did the time go?" He grabbed the boy and embraced him tightly against his body.

Nemo wheezed, feeling squished. "Dad... you're s-squishing me..."

"Sorry!" He quickly pulled Nemo away from him.

Nemo's eyes were fixed on the anemone as they swam closer to it.

"Nemo, if you hide or swim away from me again when it's your bedtime, you are grounded," his dad warned him.

His son's eyes widened in shock, and he opened his mouth to protest, but he decided not to. He didn't want to cause conflict with his father. He only sighed and murmured, "Alright."

* * *

"So, Nemo, how was the petting zoo?" Shadow asked him.

"It was great! I loved every moment of it!" Nemo exclaimed.

Nemo, Shadow, Destiny, and Dory were returning home after the petting zoo field trip. Hank decided not to go because animals were not his interest. So, he stayed home from the trip. Dory and Shadow happily assisted on being on the field trip. It was really interesting for them, and they learned a lot of new things about the animals there.

"I enjoyed it," Destiny said.

"I don't really remember much of it, but the snails were pretty cute," Dory commented.

Nemo perked up. "Oh, oh! I just remembered that Squirt is coming over today for a playdate!"

"Oooh, sounds like fun. Can I join?" Shadow asked in a playful manner, earning a small chuckle from Destiny.

The boy laughed. "Shadow, it's only for me and Squirt."

"I know, I know. Boy, you are lucky. I didn't really have playdates when I was your age."

Nemo felt sympathy for the shark inside of him, but outside, his expression remained happy. "I can't wait for him to come over."

Angel looked up from the ground to see the four coming back from the field trip. She smiled at them and waved her peachy arm. "Hi, guys!" she greeted happily, but softly.

"Hey, Angel!" Nemo swam down to her and nuzzled the sweet starfish.

Angel giggled, feeling ticklish. "How was the petting zoo, little guy?"

"Awesome! I wish you would've gone."

"I wish I could go, but I felt like spending the day with Jenny and Charlie. I wanted to hang out and chill with them. It was quite peaceful for me," she told the boy.

"My parents are the best, am I right?" Dory lightly jabbed Angel.

"They're really sweet. I wish I still had mine," she said sadly. Her bright, blue eyes gazed down on the rough, sandy floor. The tragic incident that had happened to her loving parents popped up in her head. The poor starfish had to experience the catastrophic episode of her parents when she was just a child. One day, when she was playing tag with her mom and dad, child Angel suddenly heard a loud roar on the surface. The small family immediately stopped playing when they heard it. Back then, Angel didn't know what the noise was, but her parents did. She knew what boats were; her parents had taught it to her, but the child never heard of their strong sounds before.

What happened next had young Angel terrified. A huge human diver plummeted down in the ocean, swimming right towards their home. Her parents protected her, and they tried their best to hide. Unfortunately, the diver still saw them. Their poor attempts of hiding made the diver snatch up the girl's parents with his mighty hand. Angel didn't know what to do. Her big, blue eyes were filled with anxiety and complete fear of her only family. She stood there in horror as she fearfully watched her loved ones being taken away from this evil diver.

Angel decided to scream out their names, wanting them back so desperately. She could hear them shouting out her name frantically, but faintly. She wanted to chase after them, but the girl was just too frightened and stiff to do so. The only thing she could do was watch the boat swim away, with her parents still inside. That day was the scariest and saddest day for Angel, and it still was today.

The magenta eyed tang just placed a comforting, gentle fin on her shy friend's back. She didn't want to say anything because she wanted to respect Angel and her family. In addition, she was sad to think that her parents were taken away by humans. She knew that those two-legged creatures could be bad and awful, but not all of them. Some of them just had no heart for the sea.

Angel looked at Dory, and she grinned a bit. She wiped a few of her wet tears with her arm. She snuggled up against Dory; she started to hear the fish's heartbeat. It was calming and gentle. It made her want to fall asleep.

Hank swam over to where Angel and Dory were. He saw them cuddling each other. "Oh, are we having a cuddle party?"

Angel broke away from Dory's embrace, feeling a bit embarrassed. "N-no. We just wanted to cuddle."

"Okay, if you say so. Hey, Nemo, how was the field trip?" Hank asked the boy.

"Awesome!" Nemo did a flip. He then started to explain to the octopus about what he did on the trip.

"Sounds like you had a great time. Your dad told me that Squirt is supposed to be coming over today for a playdate."

"Yep. We're gonna have tons of fun."

* * *

Hank winced as he heard the audible snores from no other than Dory herself. It was no surprise that she was a loud snorer. On some nights, her friends would be awake, annoyed that they had to go through her constant snores. But no one could just tell her stop. She was their friend, and it would be rude to interrupt her sleep. Plus, it was Dory. The sleep talking would follow along with her snores. The forgetful tang would say really weird stuff in her sleep; it was a Dory thing as well. The sleep swimming was the last thing included in her adventurous nights. First the snoring, then the sleep talking, and last the sleep swimming! This forgetful little tang was full of surprises.

When Dory would sleep swim, one of her friends would usually get up and attempt to lead her back to bed. If one couldn't simply do it, then they would have to get a partner to help them. Nights were not normal with Dory around. They were like mini adventures to them. Obviously, they would get annoyed with her three actions, considering that they would need to get enough sleep in order to wake up early in the morning, but they were able to deal with it. On some nights when Shadow would visit their home and sleep over, he thought it was amusing that Dory would sleep swim stuff, but he too would be annoyed a little bit. It was almost a month since he had met Destiny and the rest, and he would have to get used to Dory's sleep actions.

"Stop! Hehe, that tickles.." he heard Dory murmur in her sleep.

"And here goes the sleep talking," he sighed. "For goodness sake, it's late afternoon! She's only having a quick cat nap, and she's dreaming?! Oh, crab cakes..."

The not amused octopus watched Dory for a bit longer, trying to see if she would stop sleep talking. His doubts swept within him though. When he studied her movements and the words of her bizarre sleep talking escaping through her lips, he understood what her dream was about. According to the dreaming tang's hints, he was able to comprehend what she was dreaming about. At first, he thought she was dreaming about she and Nemo playing together, but when he heard Dory saying something was cute and that she wished she could keep it, the puzzle pieces came together; she was dreaming about having a pet.

"Ah, you're such a small sea slug. You're so cute and tiny..." Dory said quietly before snoring again.

"A sea slug. She's dreaming about a pet sea slug," Hank realized.

More words of sleep talk came into display. "S-Sandy! W-what are you doing?! O-oh no! Hahaha! P-please stop tickling me! G-get off me! Hahahaha!"

Hank couldn't help but chuckle. The sleep talk bothered him at first, but then it started to amuse him. Dory being Dory...

"Sandy. What a typical name," he commented to himself.

Hank was locked into Dory's entertaining sleep talking. He watched her talk about her pet and studied her deep sleep movements some more. The movements were interesting to him, so he couldn't help but examine them. From monitoring the dozing fish, he could tell that Dory and her pet sea slug had funny and cute chemistry in her surreal dream. He thought that she was dreaming about a pet because of that trip to the zoo she had gone to today. In his opinion, Dory having a pet was implausible. How could she take care of a pet if she couldn't even take care of herself? The bubbly tang's disability kept her from remembering important things, so her parents had that role to guide her and tell her the things that she would forget. What if she would forget to feed the pet or worse, forgot that the pet even existed? Forgetting the existence of a living, breathing pet was incredibly bad.

Hank shrugged the thought that was boring into his mind away. He was sure that she wouldn't go as far as forgetting her pet. His bright blue irises averted to the fish who was now suddenly sleep swimming.

"Ah!" The octopus jumped his way into getting his mobile friend. "Oh, great, now sleep swimming."

He managed to grab her before she crashed into anything, and he gently guided her back to her bed. For right now, he had to keep an eye on Dory to make sure she didn't wander off anywhere and get lost. Geez, he felt like he was watching an energetic child instead of an adult fish; who was not at all awake, but sleeping. He didn't know how long until Dory woke up. Hank knew Dory didn't nap really long, but he felt like he was gonna be in that state for a long time; he really didn't feel like looking over this "child." If Dory's parents would have come, they would appreciate Hank for watching over their Kelpcake. So, he decided to keep her under surveillance.

* * *

"Please, please, pleeeassseeee?" Dory begged like a child wanting something.

Charlie sighed, slightly annoyed. "For the thousandth time, Dory, no!"

"But I promise to take care of it."

"Dory, sweetie. Your father and I will have to think about your question, okay?" Jenny asked calmly.

"Okay. Hopefully, you guys will accept it!" Dory said optimistically before excitedly swimming away.

"Phew, I thought she would never go away," Charlie relieved. "It felt like she's been asking us that question for years."

Jenny chuckled softly. "You know our daughter, when she's excited about something, her mind just sticks to it."

When Dory woke up from her dream, she immediately zipped to her parents' house, and she constantly begged her parents for a pet. The question was like a broken record player to them. It kept ringing in their ears. Even though her parents declined her question repeatedly, she still wasn't hesitant to ask them that question. The question that most kids would ask their parents. Dory hoped her parents would change their mind, but they kept telling her no. The forgetful fish asked them for heaven knows how long. Thankfully, her mother stepped in and told her that she and Charlie would have to think about what she wanted.

"Yeah. Jenny, knowing Dory, she forgets things. Taking care of a pet is a big responsibility, and the owner has to be there for it for all times. I know she's an adult, but she still has to be looked over like she's a kid again. She can't even take care of herself because of her disability. It is our job to protect and love her. And if Dory has a pet, I-I'm just afraid that she will forget the requirements she'll need to do in order to take care of it."

His wife laid a comforting fin on his back. "I know we still take care of her, but she likes doing her own things. She was even able to survive in the ocean her entire life without getting eating by a shark. She has gone through life without the care and love of us, Charlie. Look, I know she's not capable of taking care of herself and living on her own, but she's able to contain herself and sometimes be responsible in her own Dory way. I've noticed that a few days after we first settled in here, the kids love to play and hang out with her, especially Nemo. I can see that he looks up to her. Their relationship is like brother and sister."

Charlie had to process things out in his head before he could give a response to Jenny. He understood that she was right on that their daughter loved doing her own stuff. And with her optimistic personality and her good qualities, she was able to do anything, even at the worst of times. She wouldn't let her disability get in the way. Her memory loss is what made her special. That and all of the amazing qualities that made up her.

On one side of his mind, he wasn't sure if Dory was ready for a pet yet, let alone responsible for one. Even though Marlin's son looked up to her and that the fish kids loved her, she wouldn't really be able to handle a pet. Taking care of a pet would be like taking care of a child. Children could be troublemakers just like pets. On the other hand, though, they could be really loving and sweet, and they would look up to their parents, just like pets would look up to their owners. If Dory ever did have a pet, he could see her pet loving her.

On the other side of his mind, Charlie was kind of thinking that maybe she _was_ ready to handle a big responsibility if she could just put her mind to it. Plus, he, Jenny, and all of her friends could all help her take care of the pet. The father knew he rejected his daughter's request, but the half of his mind was certain that she could handle a pet. Maybe he just didn't see that there was a different side of her? There could be responsible Dory in there.

Now, he was perplexed. He was set on one answer before, but now he was set on two. His daughter was shown to be responsible at times, but then again, her parents would constantly remind her on stuff like she was five again. Considering that she was an adult that she was, she did her own things, and she was able to do some things on her own. If she needed help, her self advocacy would come into play, and she would ask somebody. She was not being babied anymore. She was this kind of fish that had adult and child traits at the same time. That was what made him confused. On the side note, what if they help on Dory too much on the pet, and they would end up taking care of it themselves instead of the fish who was responsible for it? There were so many things whirling around in his head...

"Charlie? Are you okay? You look worried." Jenny looked at him, concerned.

"I'm... fine. I'm just thinking about this whole... pet thing you, know? But yeah, I can definitely see them as being brother and sister. I understand what you said, honey."

"Charlie, we have to think about Dory's question. This pet thing is new to us, and we need time to think things over. I can see that you are just as confused as I am."

"Oh, you have NO idea! At first, I'm like 'No. You are definitely not getting a pet.' But now I'm all like 'Maybe she can have a pet. But, I don't know, can she?' I'm on different sides at the moment here."

Jenny firmly held onto her husband's fin, knowing that he was a little stressed. "How about we go get something to eat? Surely that will calm down your nerves."

"Sounds like a good idea, honey." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

* * *

Nemo didn't even stay put when he saw his best friend, other best friend, swim over to him in enthusiasm. His small flippers flapped quickly along with his back ones. His body matched along with his four flippers in terms of being fast. With an exciting call of the clownfish's name, he raced over to him. His father trailed behind him and gave a merrily giggle.

"Squirt!" Nemo shouted. His scarlet eyes sparkled; he was so ready for playtime.

"Hey, dude!" the young sea turtle greeted.

The two friends possibly couldn't forget their signature friend greeting. They did this all the time, and with Squirt, he would do it with his dad for fun. It was one of those special moments those two shared with as father and son. It was even more fun for Squirt to share the hand downed moment with his best friend.

"Give me some fin," Squirt said as he extended out his right fin.

Nemo firmly slapped his fin with his left fin, contrasting Squirt's.

"Noggin," the child continued as they simultaneously bumped their heads together. It didn't hurt since they had done their greeting so many times already.

"Dude!" they chorused before laughing.

Marlin watched the duo. He cracked a smile in amusement. He then watched Crush come up to him.

"Hey, Marlin, what's up my man?" he happily said.

"Hi, Crush. How's it going?" he asked.

"Awesome, my dude," he replied.

They both did a hand-finshake. Just like their sons, the adults would do cool finshakes. Despite the serious fish that Marlin was, he had a hidden childlike aspect in him that no one would really experience from him. He was not a playful fish, yes, but every once in a while, he would enjoy having fun. For example, he wouldn't mind a game or two of hide-and-seek with Dory and his friends. He wasn't as childish as Dory, but he would display his hidden childlike part from him every so often. His son loved that part from his dad, and he wished he could display more of that, but not all dreams would come true.

"Good, good. I'm not really up to much, really. I'm just... living life in the ocean, you know? Nothing new is going on, except that Dory has been REALLY wanting a pet. She's been frequently asking her parents for one. It's kind of getting on my nerves. Hopefully, she will forget about the pet thing. Ironic since she forgets things all the time."

"Little Blue wants a pet, heh? If she does end up getting one, I wish her all the best. Having a pet is a huge responsibility. She needs to learn the ways on how to take care of one." Crush's eyes took note on the said fish, who was doing flips to Destiny and Shadow.

"Her parents are deciding whether or not she will have a pet. I hope they come up with an answer soon. I'm getting sick of her bringing up the subject." He lightly rubbed his temple.

"Ah, I understand, dude. If Squirt would constantly remind me of that particular subject, I will get agitated." His green eyes darted off again, checking on his son to make sure he didn't get hurt or get into any unknown trouble. The youth was currently playing tag with Nemo. No mischevious acts were coming into play here.

"Totally," the clownfish simply replied.

"Soo... how is the couple doing?" he jokingly asked.

"Oh, fi- What?! Couple?! Crush, they don't even have crushes on each other! Well, not yet anyway..."

The turtle laughed. "I'm just playing with you, dude!" He gave Marlin a playful nudge with his flipper.

Marlin chuckled, placing his fins on his stomach. He then looked over to the two. The sharks had been knowing each other for a while now. It should be obvious that those two had crushes on each other. He knew the looks that Shadow would cast to Destiny. The clownfish had those exact same looks when he first met Coral. Shadow didn't do this every time, but he would sometimes stutter when talking to the whale shark. He would do that because he would accidentally stare at Destiny's pretty, blue eyes and at times her noticeable white spots that perfectly matched her body. The stuttering would sometimes follow with a blush. Destiny would do the same thing that the sand shark did, minus the stuttering. She would blush from time to time. It _had_ to be obvious that those two had crushes on each other, right? The clownfish didn't know for sure though. Maybe he was overthinking it and misunderstood...

"I see them hanging out with each other _a lot_ lately. Either they are really friendly with each other or it's something else... I don't really know. I don't want to be nosy or anything, but I kind of think they have crushes on each other. I may be wrong though," Marlin told him.

"You know what, Marlin dude? I've been thinking the same thing. I saw Shadow blushing at Destiny one time. Don't know the reason why, though. But hey, we should let the subject subside. I don't want them to hear us talking about them. If they overhear us, they might not want to speak with us for eternity. It's rude to talk about other fish like that, you know?"

"You're right. Hey, wanna go on a late afternoon swim? You know, just to relax our minds from the long day and such?" Marlin inquired.

"Cha, I'm always good with a nice little swim in the big blue, man."

"Same here. Let's remind the boys first."

* * *

The young duo was hard at play as soon as their fathers had left for their late afternoon swim. They played entertaining games that were known today, fun little games that were fun for children and even adults. Since it was their playdate, no one was allowed to join them. Even though they wish they could invite them, the playdate was designed specifically for them. It was their time to just hang out and play together as best friends. It was their time to spend time alone without no interruptions. Well, at least they thought that they would have a nice time together with nobody ruining their fun.

The perky blue tang merrily swam her way to the two children. She was observing them playing along from her distance not too long ago. She had to admit that she was a little envious when watching them. The fish always loved to play, and she didn't like it when she felt like she was missing out on some good playtime. Obviously, she had forgotten that Nemo reminded her that the playdate was only for him and Squirt.

"Hi, guys!" she chirped, waving her fin to them.

Nemo stopped in his track as soon as he heard that recognizable high voice. He groaned in annoyance. "I knew she would forget."

Squirt looked at his friend, then at the excited tang. "Aww, it's okay, Nemo. We'll just kindly tell her to leave."

He gave an exaggerated sigh. Nemo loved Dory, he really did, and he loved to play with her, but right now, this was the time for him and Squirt to play. Even the slightest of disturbance would ruin their playdate. Knowing Dory, she forgot stuff instantly, so he decided not to overreact. He took a few breathing exercises to calm down.

"Hi, guys!" Dory repeated. "I watched you guys playing, and it would be super fun if I can play with you."

"Dory," Squirt began, "Nemo and I told you that the playdate is only for us. For him and me only." He gestured a small flipper to Nemo, then to himself. "Understand?"

"But the playdate would be even more fun if I joined," she stated.

"I bet it will, but this playdate is for Squirt and me alone. We want to be able to have the opportunity to play today. You have to remember that Squirt doesn't visit here every day. He comes here with the permission of Crush. You _live_ with me, and we always have time to play together. I want to have the chance to play with Squirt today," Nemo explained.

"Okay, I understand..." Dory replied, her wide, magenta eyes slowly gazing down at the ocean floor.

"Look, I promise we will have a playdate another time, okay? Just me and you. No one else. How does that sound?"

Dory perked up at the offer. "Really? You mean it?"

"Really." Nemo grinned.

"Yahoo! I'm gonna have a playdate with Nemo!" She did a few flips in triumph.

"Aww, that's nice of you to do that, Nemo," Squirt said.

"I can't stand to let Dory down. I don't like her being sad. If she's sad, then I'm sad."

"Dory is an awesome dudette," Squirt remarked happily.

Dory flushed lightly before completely changing the subject. "I might be getting a pet soon, and I'm so excited!"

"We know Dory," Nemo blankly said. "You told all of us already. By a couple of days, the whole ocean will know."

"My parents still haven't come up with a decision. I don't want to rush them, but I hope they hurry up. I can't wait any longer."

"Woah, a pet! That's amazing, Dory!" Squirt exclaimed.

"I know, right? Well, I better go now. You guys have fun!" With a heartbeat, Dory sprinted away, singing her "Just Keep Swimming" song.

A few hours had passed since the playdate. Crush and Marlin came back, and after a few minutes of their return, Crush took Squirt home. Nemo's and Squirt's playdate had been a blast, and they hoped they would do another one someday.

It was the evening now. The group of ocean friends had just finished eating dinner, and it would not be too long until Nemo's bedtime.

Dory decided to go to her parent's house. She had been waiting for hours for their decision. She hoped the answer would be a "yes."

The fish took a path that had a few turns, like a zig-zag motion. As soon as she saw her parents' brain coral come into view, she saw her parents discussing something. Her face lit up, positive they were talking about a certain subject.

Charlie noted his daughter's presence, which allowed him to stop the conversation.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Dory brightly greeted. "If you are talking about a little something that I happen to know, then I will just leave you two guys alone..."

Her mom giggled at her funniness. "Sweetie, we still haven't decided yet. Dad and I are talking about it. If you want to know our answer, then you'll just have to be patient. If you decide to be impatient, then we will not tell you at all."

"Oooh, okay. Sorry, I'll... I'll just be on my way now." Dory darted away.

"She's really serious about getting a pet," Charlie chuckled.

"I know. She can't seem to get the thought out of her head, which has me thinking..."

"Thinking about what, Jen?" her husband asked.

"If she's serious about getting a pet, then she might be able to handle one. I remember you saying that you were worried about her forgetting about the certain requirements needed to be able to take care of a pet. I think that she knows the basics of what the pet needs. Food, making sure it gets enough exercise, a lot of love, attention, and other basic things that a pet would need. Plus, she has loads of free time. If she has enough time to play with her friends, then she will definitely have enough time to take care of her pet," Jenny clarified.

Charlie nodded his head, agreeing with his wife. He then rubbed his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry on what I said about her forgetting. I was overreacting. It's just so surprising for me to think of our little girl taking care of a pet like it's a child."

"I understand, dear. If she needs help in any way with her pet, then we will certainly help. Not too much, though. We don't need to hog it. We need to let Dory have the time to experience what it's like to have a pet. A new addition to the family is a really big change. So, for the first few weeks or so, she would mostly get stressed handling it, especially when it will wake up at random times on nights. Stress is no fun. If she will get stressed, we will try our best to calm her down and try to deal with the pet."

"I love the way you think, honey. Your intelligence is one of the main things about you," Charlie thoughtfully said.

"Oh, Charlie," Jenny said, flattered. A light blush was beginning to appear on her cheeks.

Her husband kissed her on a red cheek. "So, you think she's ready?"

Jenny had to ponder for a moment. She didn't want to answer the question that quickly. The things that she had been explaining to her husband were beliefs about her daughter. She believed that her daughter was efficient to deal with one objective: being responsible for a pet. With her memory disability in the way, though, it would be difficult to contain a pet and pay attention to it at all times. The mother had been mostly positive on topic, but she was spectacle about it, too. There were some anxious questions that were flooding around in her head that she really didn't feel like saying out loud or even just concentrating on them in her head. They were just jumbled up together like puzzle pieces.

 _"You can do whatever you put your mind to, Dory,"_ younger Jenny once said to five-year-old Dory.

Worriedness slowly began to drift away when she remembered that sentence she had said to her then young daughter. If anyone could believe in themselves and have enough faith, then they would be able to succeed in anything. Jenny had always believed in Dory, even at the toughest of times. She was certain that her daughter had faith that she would take care of a pet in one facet of her mind. Beneath all of her enthusiasm was a small hint of a logical piece. She might had been wrong about her daughter, but maybe she planned out on how to take care of her pet in some sort of way. She was always honest on her, so she was honest that Dory had to analyze the issue at least a little bit. Analytical was not the best word to describe Dory; it was more like Marlin, but everyone in life had to just sit down and reflect on important themes. The ingredients of faith, belief, honesty, and loyalty, were beyond good terms on taking possessiveness of a pet. Those words and her own special mixture of Dory optimism and her character were perfect for contriving an amazing pet owner.

"Yes, I believe that she's ready," Jenny declared.

"It's set then. Should we get her?"

"I think we should tell her tomorrow morning. I want her to have a surprised morning," Jenny said.

"Great idea. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on her face!"

* * *

Saturday morning had arrived. The weekend was finally here at last. No school to attend to, and no work for Destiny, Hank, and Bailey. There was nothing more relaxing than having a chance to sleep in on the weekends, especially when you didn't have any plans in mind on some weekends. Sleeping in was great for everyone, even early birds.

For Jenny and Charlie, they had to get up early to tell Dory the news. They were not necessarily night owls, so they were perfectly fine on getting up early. Charlie was a little hesitant though on waking up since he didn't expect Jenny gently prodding on him to get up. His wife didn't blame him. She would be pretty upset too if she was woken up by someone else trying to get her up. She was better off waking up by herself.

They sauntered through the dim ocean. The ocean was not completely dark, but it was not really light either. It was a mixture in between. The dim light of the ocean hinted it was early morning, and that the sun was about to come up in a while.

The distance between their house and their daughter's brain coral was not very far at all. It would take approximately five minutes or less to get there. They remembered the route from their home to hers by a few days, so that pretty much summed that her brain coral was really easy to get to.

The couple immediately recognized the familiar anemone that resided Marlin and Nemo in. Its tentacles swayed back and forth in a flowing, delicate motion in the dense water. The image matched the description of the sea. It was mesmerizing to see if one would want to stare at it all day.

Next to the anemone was, of course, Dory's brain coral. The blue tang housed in there was in a comfortable position, her leaning body against its interior. She appeared to not be snoring for once. The tang would usually snore almost all the time, but this time, she didn't. It made her appear a calm, peaceful, sleeping fish.

Her mother's magenta eyes softened at her sleeping daughter. She looked so peaceful, and she was really quiet at this state. The only sounds coming out of her were soft snores. Jenny gave a gentle smile at Dory as she reached a delicate fin out to caress her face.

"Oh, Charlie... She's sleeping just like a baby. I remember those days where I would just watch her sleep peacefully. I loved those endearing moments and... Oh, honey... I don't want to wake her up. I just want to watch her sleep in content. If I could, I would watch her all day."

A soft chuckle arose from her husband's lips before carefully grabbing one of her fins. "I used to love watching her sleep as well. I wish I could let you do that, but we have to tell her. It's important news, well, at least for her anyway."

"Yeah, you're right. She has to hear our answer," Jenny agreed.

"Kelpcake," Charlie quietly said, gently shaking her awake.

Dory abruptly woke up. "H-huh? Oh, it's only you guys."

"Dory, your father and I have some really exciting news," Jenny grinned.

"Really? What news? That's awesome!"

Both of her parents giggled. Since it was the next day, they sort of knew that she would forget about the pet subject, but a part of them thought that she would still have the topic still lingering in her head since she didn't forget it at all yesterday. So, they were kind of right.

"We'll tell you the news at our house," Charlie claimed.

Dory took off without warning before her father even got a chance to finish the sentence. She couldn't contain her excitement much longer.

"Wow, someone's excited," Jenny giggled.

Their daughter's eyes widened as she saw them return home. "So, what's the big news?" she anxiously asked.

"Should I tell her?" Charlie mumbled to Jenny.

"Yes, go ahead," she told him quickly.

"Dory, you're getting a pet!" Charlie announced.

Dory gasped for a quick second before inquiring, "Wait, what pet? I didn't ask for one."

Her parents gave each other perplexed glances at each other. Yes, she had forgotten about the pet concept, but Charlie told her the decision that he and Jenny had discussed. Usually, she would remember things when fish would remind her a second time, but she suddenly forgot.

"Sweetheart, yes you did. You've been begging us all afternoon yesterday. You really wanted one," Jenny told her.

Dory took a moment to remember. She placed her left fin on her chin. The river of memories then flooded through her head in an instant. From the moment she first woke up from her dream, from the constant begging to her parents, from her swimming around excitedly in circles, from her telling all of her friends her excitement, to the moment when she eagerly went to bed before dozing off.. eventually forgetting all about the excitement bottled up inside of her.

"Oh, yeah, that... Well..."

"Is something wrong, Kelpcake?" Charlie concernedly asked. He was happy to tell her that she was finally getting a pet, but his expression was concerned now. Was she changing her mind? Or was it something else she needed to say. He was worried something was bothering her, and he had that thought that she didn't want to tell them.

From Dory's perspective, the fish was uncertain about the news. It was just yesterday that she was anxious to hear her parent's decision, now, she felt drained about it. Her emotions changed on the pet matter in just one day. She wasn't sure why she wasn't thrilled with her parents' decision. Certainly, she wanted a pet... or maybe she didn't... The forgetful fish felt like she was a whole different fish. She admitted she wasn't excited anymore.

"I... I'm not sure that I want a pet anymore," she finally answered.

Jenny and Charlie's faces had surprise looks. Their daughter didn't want a pet?

"But yesterday, you were so excited for one. You didn't forget about it, not even one bit. You remembered it for so long," Jenny said.

"I'm not excited anymore, Mom. I don't know why, though. Gosh, it feels so weird. For some reason, I can't have that excitement back inside me. Just even thinking about a pet just makes me want to forget about it. For once, I actually want to forget something..."

"So you're saying that you're changing your mind about getting a pet?" Jenny questioned.

Dory said nothing. She felt uncomfortable about saying "no." The blue tang didn't want to admit to her parents, but she felt kind of nervous about them being angry at her. She knew they must had discussed and thought about the decision for hours, and she knew it was stressful for them for just coming up with an answer. She loved her parents, and she cared about their health and happiness. Thinking about them being anxious made her feel uneasy. Plus, her uneasiness would increase even more if her parents gave out their anger to her. She didn't feel like saying her answer at the moment.

"I see what's going on here," Charlie said, sensing his daughter's nervousness.

Dory looked at her father but decided to still not say anything.

"You're accepting that you're not ready for a pet, are you?"

Dory's mouth formed into an "o" shape. That solved all of her problems. No wonder why she didn't feel enlivened anymore. She didn't have a chance to think about the big responsibilities of owning a pet, let alone ask fish how to handle a pet. At one point though, she did had to analyze how she would take care of a pet, but that was later replaced with more excitement. She was so hyper about getting a pet that she didn't stop to think about how hard it was to really take care of one. This morning when she woke up, the hyperactivity wore off, and she forgot about the whole pet thing. Maybe her conscience was telling her that she wasn't ready for a pet yet and that she needed to take things slow and learn the responsibilities about having one. Her conscious finally decided to come out of its shell and speak up.

"Yeah... I-I guess I am," she admitted.

Jenny affectionately kissed Dory on the forehead. "I'm glad that you had to sort out the issue in your head. You basically questioned yourself "Am I ready for a pet or not?" And you decided to plan things out in your head. I'm proud of you, dear."

"Aww, I didn't _exactly_ do that, Mom. It was my conscious telling me that I'm not ready for a pet. I wasn't aware of it at first, but when I thought about it, like, a minute ago, I knew. And I decided to stick with my conscious. My conscious first appeared maybe when I first woke up," Dory explained.

"Always a great idea to listen to your conscious. Very smart," Charlie remarked.

"Aww, Dad..." Dory blushed.

Jenny kissed her on the cheek. "I'm thinking about going on a morning swim. Just the three of us. As a family."

"That's a wonderful idea, honey. I would love to spend time having a peaceful swim with my two girls here," Charlie smiled.

"Yay! Swim time!" Dory shouted, throwing her fins up in the air.

Her parents held their daughter's fins, and the three began their swim in the quiet, gorgeous morning ocean.

 **A/N: I just realized that this is the longest I have ever written. Gosh, what a lot of words! I guess this shows how serious I am about my writing and that I don't actually rush to get it done. I usually update my stories by a time span of a few months. I'm disappointed about that because I know some of you guys are impatient about my slow updates. I'm awfully sorry about that. It's school that gets in the way. That and plus, I'm careful about what I write, so I want my content to be good so that anyone can enjoy my stories. Time management is also a thing. I think about what story I want to do next, so I take my slow and steady time writing the next chapter for that particular story because of efficiency. I'm a fast typer, but I analyze my writing and I think about the details that go into the story, and I think about what the characters say. That's why my updates are so slow. I care about my stories, and I do my best to write them, I really do. Thank you guys so much for reading this lengthy chapter. I really appreciate it. :)**


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